home business labs - best businesses to start 2015

Home Business Labs the place to start and grow your business. Contact the person who sent you this report to learn more.

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Best Businesses To Start: The First Steps of Family Economics for

Freedom, Wealth, and Opportunities

Home Business Labs is the place to start and grow your business. Contact the

person who sent you this report to learn more.

Chapters

I. The Challenge

II. Why Work From Home

III. Where Do You Start

IV. What Can You Do From Home

V. Practical Setup Tips

VI. Qualifying Your Idea

VII. Developing A Plan

VIII. Funding

IX. Legal

X. The Future

Disclaimer: We are not a licensed professional in any area. This book is from

our personal point of view and how we run our home businesses. I am in no way

promising riches or success. That is all up to you.

Seek your own licensed professional advice on matters important to you. It is

your responsibility to do your own due diligence and make decisions on your

own.

Copyright 2015 All Rights Reserved Home Business Labs LLC

12536 Triple Oaks Drive, St Louis, MO 63128


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INTRODUCTION: No You Are Not Crazy

First, let me start by saying you are probably not as crazy as others think you are

when it comes to wanting to start a business. However, if you let those who think

you’re crazy get hold of this atypical report, they will either think you are now

really crazy or set out on a journey of working from home for themselves.

While there are a lot of books on the topic of working from home, none of them

have been written in this manner before. In fact I believe the majority of work

from home books still have too much of the “philosophical economic system”

interlaced throughout their pages.

This book will challenge the very fiber of how you look at economics, working

from home, and how you go about your personal and professional endeavors

from here on out. Now as you can see within the introduction I have an opinion

and belief system that will become apparent as you read. This book is not meant

to be some great masterpiece in English literature, rather a raw guide of how to

work from home with a basis of why you should from my worldview.

Working from home isn’t for everybody. Some people are just not willing to put

in the work, effort, and risk it takes to succeed. However, that is not you or you

wouldn’t be reading this book.

Finally, this book is meant to give you the strong why’s of working from home.

The “why” is what will carry you through and I am not talking about the same old

shallow why’s everyone comes up with. I am talking about ones that come from

the depth of conviction and belief. That is what we will explore in this book along

with some practical “How To’s” along the way.


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So if you are ready for the challenge from both a personal and professional level,

then you have the right book when it comes to having a successful home business.

I: The Challenge

Common Challenges

Often times those who are inspired to start their own home business because of

conviction and passion will often overlook the associated common challenges.

But you have to believe nothing will stand in your way and plan accordingly. I

believe we have lost the faith in our ability to overcome anything between the

ages of 8-18. The economic and educational system steals our passion, dreams,

and spirit needed to overcome obstacles. That system wants citizens to expect

little of themselves and to just agree to the system of working for paycheck.

However, with challenges come opportunities for growth and personal

development:

Some of the typical challenges we will cover are:

• Deciding on a Business

• Funding

• Taxes

• Legal

• Marketing

• Business Plan

• Resources

Here are some of the most important and overlooked challenges of working from

home that I have learned over the years.


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The Lie of Stress: Many home business owners allow the “idea” of stress to

build up and weigh down their daily life. Allowing stress to build up is first of all

unhealthy physically, but also bad for your relationships. Stress weakens your

personal and professional behavior.

So here is how I deal with stress:

1. Things are never as bad as we make them out to be.

2. I don’t focus on the problem too long; rather, I focus on solutions.

3. If I can’t find a solution immediately, I table the concern to allow my

subconscious to go to work on finding one. It is amazing how often

solutions just come to me using this method.

4. I will go work out, take a run, sit in the sauna, or do some other activity

that brings clarity to my mind and body. This helps me not only deal with

stress but also come up with solutions.

5. I never go to sleep with stress; I actually go through the practice of sitting

stress on my nightstand every night. So what do I mean? I will go through

the actual motion of pretending I am removing stress from the chest and

sitting it on the nightstand. Once done, I have agreed to myself to not

think about it anymore.

The Lie of Panic: I used to think if I went into panic mode, things would get

taken care of, and usually they did in the short term. However, in the long term, I

mistakenly began to think this was the ideal way to deal with lost revenue, bad

deals, and bad decisions.

I came to realize I would never achieve anything better if all I ever did was panic

through situations to deal with them, which ultimately inhibits your success in

relationships, finances, and business.


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The Lie of Doubters: I used to always get advice from people who were not

home business owners or even business owners. Worst yet, because of

relationships, I would willingly accept unsolicited advice or thoughts from family

and friends on my business.

Usually, these individuals are not out to willingly sabotage your success.

However, we have been conditioned in this culture that working from home isn’t

natural, even though it is the most natural thing to actually do. Furthermore, on a

subconscious level, family and friends who are not in business themselves don’t

necessarily want you to be successful from home.

By being successful, your family and friends have to take a long hard look at their

own lives. This is something they don’t want to do, they don’t want to face the

truth of the matter when confronted with the fact you have found a better way.

The next time you accept advice from others, it needs to be taken in context.

The Lie of Ethics: The bottom line is there is no such thing as business ethics.

Either you are ethical or you are not, and being in business working from home

only amplifies who you really are.

The Lie of Limited Family Involvement: This is the idea that for some

reason, your family (namely, your spouse and kids) shouldn’t be involved. The

reality is you work from home to spend more time with our family. Yet, what I

used to do is set aside 8 hours every day during which my family was not allowed

to disturb me, which seems crazy now. Furthermore, the idea that my family

shouldn’t know or be trained in what our home business does is just as crazy.

If you want a successful home business, I suggest you involve your families. Set

expectations on how to deal with calls and meetings, but don’t alienate them.


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Instead, use this as opportunity to train them, be with them, and run the business

together.

The Lie of Independence: This lie is similar to the previous one cautioning

against alienating your family. Working from home goes against the grain for

western economics, which stresses attending college above all else, generate

$100,000 in student loan debt, getting married, and taking out a mortgage with

two car loans. Then work eight hours per day at a good job, while sending your

spouse off to work and your kids to be brainwashed by an educational system that

you don’t agree with.

The idea of independence comes from this very form of western culture, which

removes you from your family’s lives for at least 9-10 hours per day.

When we begin working from home, we find the desire to still operate with the

underlying mentality that western economics produces, which emphasizes

independence or “alone time” from the family, to the detriment of personal

happiness and family life.

II: Why Work from Home? The historical norm has not involved working 8 hours per day, nor is spending 9-

10 hours away from the family each day. When we look back at history for

thousands of years, we observe that the family was the basic economic unit. We

also see families that were much healthier and intact, a direct result, I believe,

from working from home.

Today, one of the major reasons for working from home is spending time with the

ones you love and care about and maintaining truly healthy relationships, even if


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the current system breads selfishness, independence, entitlement, cheating, and

double-minded actions.

So who said you couldn’t work from home?

The bigger question is really why not? Today so many individuals don’t believe

they can work from home because it is something they never knew and most

academics do not expose students to the possibility.

You have to realize that the concept of working from home is foreign to the mass

population, even to your trusted family and friends. Even more something they

don’t understand they will question and when it comes to their perception of

survival will be highly critical. Sometimes, taking your life back bothers others

who lack the courage or initiative to do the same. Nevertheless, don’t take offense

because they just simply don’t realize what they are doing.

People will question working from home with some basic self-preservation

questions that society has conditioned in them, such as:

• How will you pay your bills?

• How will you get the money?

• Don’t you need a degree to do that?

• What makes you an expert?

• Isn’t that impossible to get into?

• Who will do business with you?

• Won’t you be away from your family a lot?

• Isn’t that going to require long hours?

• Isn’t that a risky move?

Freedom


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Freedom is also one of the main reasons to work from home. In a regular job you

are not as free as you think you are because everything you do depends on your

employer’s approval at some level.

Working from home gives you:

• Freedom to set and adjust your own schedule.

• Freedom to express your beliefs.

• Freedom to live out what you believe.

• Freedom to do what you want.

Can you imagine the freedom to stop in the middle of your work to spend time

with your family just because? The ability to pick up and leave for a two-hour

hike to clear your mind or the ability to take a last minute trip?

How about the freedom to adjust your schedule as often as you want based on

your family’s needs or your personal life needs?

How would this type of freedom affect the quality of your life and those around

you?

Saves Money

Working from home rather than having a traditional office allows you to save

money:

• Payrolls, in most cases you can reduce if not eliminate staffing. Especially

you believe in a “family” economics.

• Limited overhead, such as office cost and no commuting cost.

• Leases and office rent can be completely eliminated and home office costs

in most cases are partly tax-deductible.


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• Meals: no longer do you need to eat out all the time or pack expensive or

unhealthy lunches. Now your health can come first.

• Wear and tear on vehicles.

• Possibly, daycare will no longer be needed for your children.

We are talking potentially thousands of dollars each month. Now think about

how much you realistically need to generate the first few months you own your

business.

Create Multiple Streams of Income

Working from home allows you to create multiple streams of income. Once you

have one business up and running you can now pursue your next venture. True

wealth comes from multiple assets spitting off cash to you whether you are

working or not. This is something a number of work-from-home pioneers

overlook, and when one stream dries up they panic or go get a job.

Continue to create businesses that support your dreams and family in the long

run. Focus on creating multiple assets spitting cash to you whether you are

working or not.

At the end of the day, you can choose to work from home and be self-employed, a

model that dries up the moment you stop working. Or you can choose to work

from home owning businesses that develop your dreams of freedom and family.

III: Where Do You Start?

Getting started may be complicated, but first let me say that choosing one

business initially will be important before moving on to others later. As you read

in the previous chapter, I believe in creating multiple streams of income.


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As you are getting started, it is important to first identify some things about

yourself, such as what is important to you both personally and professionally. I

would challenge you to take a long hard look at what you believe, what you are

passionate about, what matters to you on a deep level. Write those things down in

one word, two word, or three word statements.

Once you have created a list of beliefs and passions, add to it your skills and

talents. If you are not sure what you are talented at, ask others for their opinion

on what they see as your talents. When doing this, don’t mention it is so you can

identify what home business you want to start. Keeping that from them at this

point will actually help you and them give you the answers you are looking for.

Now that you have the list, just sit on it for a few days or weeks. Maybe add to

take away from it while allowing your mind, both consciously and on a

subconscious level, to go to work.

Which direction should you go? Here is a short list to start the creative thought

process. This is meant for direction, not specific business models. In the next

chapter we will cover specific business models you can implement based on this

short list.

Provide a service to others who do what you love.

One fulfilling business from home could be to serve others who you believe in.

Whether it is a product or service, think about ways you could develop a business

around aiding them.

Focus on doing just the things you love.

While it’s easy to say this, actually think about the things you love. Could you

create a business around that?


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Teach others to do what you love.

So what do you love to do? Chances are if you are passionate enough about

something, you are probably going to be gifted in teaching it and thus build a

business around it.

Write about what you love.

Take, for example, me writing this book: working from home with a worldview of

“family economics” that challenges the typical schools of thought.

Speak about what you love.

If you are passionate and not shy, maybe speaking on the topics you love are in

your future.

Create a product related to what you love.

Similar to teaching, you could create a teaching product based around what you

love or even some type of tangible product that enhances the interest.

Sell or broker what you love.

Chances are, if you love it, then you could sell it or even broker it, meaning you

can sell the products or service or even create win/ win deals between two other

parties for some type of commission.

Notice a theme here: when it’s something you are talented with, passionate

about, or love then the chances of you being successful with it will be much

greater. And lastly, you can organize what you love, set up, repair, restore, fix, or

maintain what you love as businesses.


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IV: What Can You Do From Home?

In this chapter, we will discuss various models. I encourage you to keep your

mind open to the possibilities. Western economics has conditioned us to look at

certain businesses in a negative light, so be ready to consider things differently.

The Franchise Model

If you have some money set aside, you could choose to buy into an already

established business model with proven results. Often, successful companies and

chain businesses will sell franchise opportunities to set up their business in a

geographical area.

The cost for a franchise can often be expensive, but also be an idea way to get

started. There are many franchises currently that allow you to work from home.

Franchise models are like a business in a box, with a proven concept, system, and

marketing plan. Many have corporate training days, a coach, and ongoing

support to help you.

Two negatives would be the high cost to start and a set ceiling of income in many

cases due to geographical constraints.

You can always consider opening multiple locations once you get well acquainted

with your first one and you have established profitability.

There are three basic types of franchises:

1. Distributorships, which sell the right to sell their parent companies.

2. Trademark or brand name licensing.

3. Fully equipped business franchises, such as Subway, McDonalds, 7 Eleven,

and Hampton Inn’s.


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The franchisees usually pay an initial fee to acquire this right and thereafter pay a

percentage of their gross sales to the franchisor throughout the term of their

franchise contract.

Ecommerce Website

Ecommerce is a viable business model as online purchases continue to skyrocket.

More and more consumers like to do their shopping online. The key to online

enterprises is to always be capturing information. Before you ever sell, give them

a reason to enter their information on the website for free offers, coupons,

reports, giveaways, or even newsletters. The most important aspect in marketing

is capturing leads and prospects information online. Mastering this will make the

success of your ecommerce venture much more probable.

When we talk about capturing information, we are talking about various aspects

such as:

• Email, which is slowly becoming less effective, but still the most effective.

• Mobile phone numbers for texting; this is becoming very effective

• Mailing address

• Free Mobile APP Subscription; giving away a mobile APP this will allow

for push notifications, similar to text.

So how do you find products to sell?

You can choose a niche you would like to get into and then find a manufacturer or

become a manufacturer of the product. We will get into marketing and


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determining viable niches later in the business plan section. Understanding the

niche’s reach online will be critical for the success of any ecommerce website.

Authority Website

So what is an authority website?

My companies have created multiple websites that focus on different niches from

an information point of view.

These websites can generally provide some of the following in order to generate

leads.

• News on the topic

• Reviews of products and services in the marketplace

• Expert columns

• Reports

• Guides

• Tips

In providing this type of content on a particular niche, we generate a lot of

website traffic and capture numerous visitors’ information. In turn we sell our

products, services, and affiliate offers to the list of people we capture.

What is an affiliate offer? It is simply an offer were you get paid to refer

customers online.


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I personally like the authority method because we are able to build great list

around niche topics and market to them various products and services.

Kindle Publishing

By now you may already be thinking of publishing a book on Amazon through

Kindle. This book is listed on Amazon and you may be reading it from kindle as a

matter of fact.

It has been widely known that Amazon has actually sold Kindles as a lost leader

in order to sell the books that customers purchase in the future to load on them.

In fact millions of kindles have been sold and each year, though Amazon never

discloses the numbers. What we do know from Amazon is that over 1 million

Kindle purchases happen weekly. We also know that Amazon owns the market

share for books both print and ebooks.

Thus, you could become a published author using this method and also establish

yourself an authority on a particular topic, which could compliment a business

you have in mind.

The cost to publish with Amazon is currently ZERO. The upside is significant

when you consider Amazon actually goes to work ranking your book when it’s

optimized correctly. Have you ever noticed how often Amazon book results show

up on the page one of Google search? Sometimes it is organic or natural and

other times it is paid by AMAZON.

Affiliate Marketing


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Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business

rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the

affiliate's own marketing efforts. Affiliate marketing has become a very big

industry resulting in the emergence of a secondary tier of players, including

affiliate management agencies, super-affiliates and specialized third party joint

venture brokers.

Super affiliates are those who have very large databases and can typically

outperform regular affiliates by three or four times more. Joint venture brokers

specialize in finding list owners or affiliates who can promote niche products that

match their list.

Affiliate marketing is a great way to grow your business if you haven’t ever

considered using them. Affiliates often use various methods at their own cost to

drive leads such as social media, (SEO) search engine optimization, (PPC) pay per

click , solo ads or email marketing, banner advertisement, product reviews, and

content marketing.

Affiliates only get paid when they generate sales or agreed upon measurables,

which presents a dual opportunity. Remember that you don’t get paid unless you

produce and you don’t pay unless your affiliates produce. When you market

affiliate products or services and refer new customers you can get paid anywhere

from 5% up to 75% in most cases. I personally like to market products in the 50%

commission range. However, I do market some that are lower commission.

This idea of affiliate marketing can be very appealing if you know how to build list

and can market to them very inexpensively. That is why I like authority websites,

because they are inexpensive and build great niche lists.

Direct Selling


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Listen to the following statement, and then choose…

“In most Americans’ minds, it’s a ‘scam’ and a ‘scheme’ – questionable or

unethical at best, immoral and illegal at worst.

“Many own-your-own entrepreneurial hopefuls have been hyped into

turning over their life savings, only to see the company go out of

business, taking their dreams down with them.

“Politicians, regulators and the media (especially the media) cry ‘foul’

whenever its name comes up. Newspapers, magazines and television

news and talk shows regularly expose it for the ‘flim-flam rip-off it really

is.’ Major corporations who get involved go out of their way to avoid any

appearance of doing so. There is even a move in Congress to outlaw it

altogether!”

Now, guess: which one is the right answer?

A. TV ministry scams

B. Off-shore investment schemes

C. Multi-level/network marketing

D. None of the above

Now, guess: which one is the right answer?

A. TV ministry scams

B. Off-shore investment schemes

C. Multi-Level/Network Marketing

D. None of the above

Did you pick A, B, or C?

Well, there’s probably some truth to all those choices— but none of them is the

right answer.


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In fact, it’s a trick question. The right answer is

“D. None of the above.”

— more than 40 years ago! Back then, that’s exactly what people were thinking

and saying about a radical, revolutionary new business concept called

franchising.

In the 1960s— before Ray Kroc and McDonalds, before Dunkin' Donuts, Midas

Mufflers, Molly Maid, Pizza Hut... and all the other successful franchise

companies established franchising as a legitimate industry— all of those negative

things were being said about franchising. And yes, there was even a move in

Congress to outlaw it.

And today...?

Today, experts say the franchising industry is responsible for more 40 percent of

all retail goods and services we buy and sell in the United States— over one

trillion dollars!

Franchising truly was a revolutionary business concept— and it still is.

Take a look at your alternative: 80 percent of all small business fails in their first

year. 80 percent of those that make it don’t survive to see year five— and of those

that do, even fewer will last another five.

Think about it: how many companies do you do business with that

have been around for 10 years or more?

Not very many....

Franchising is a way for the small business entrepreneur to boost the odds of

success. A franchise takes the guesswork out of building a business from scratch.

The franchise company creates a “turn-key opportunity”— a ready-made, off the

rack business, complete with products or services, logos, uniforms, training,

vendors, policies and procedures. Virtually anyone with the desire and start-up


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capital can climb into this vehicle, turn the key, and drive off down the highway

of entrepreneurial success.

It’s truly brilliant.

You don’t need to know all there is to know about building a franchise to own

one. The franchise company has done all that work for you. You simply pay your

franchise fee, build or rent your location and furnish it with the equipment the

company has already designed and successfully tested for you, hire your people,

and then pay the company a percentage of your sales and profits.

A Question: How well do franchisees do?

According to its critics, the truth is about one third of all franchises fail. Another

third break even, and only one third make a profit. In fact some franchise

veterans say you can’t make money in franchising today unless you own at least

five or more individual franchises units! Still, that’s a much better average than

the 80/20 failure/success rate of conventional small businesses.

Question: How much does it cost to own a franchise, today?

Ahh, there’s the rub.

Franchises fees range between a low/low/low of $1,000 to $500,000

and more. The average fee today comes in at around $50 grand.

You can get a Molly Maid or a Thrifty Car Rental franchise for a fee of $17,500 as

of this writing. Sir Speedy is $25,000. And the big guys, like McDonalds... well

even if you could find one— forget it! It’s in the millions...

The really bad news is that’s only the fee. You’ve still got to pay for the building,

equipment, initial inventory, etc. – all of which can run into the millions or more.

The average investment in a proven franchise opportunity is $250,000! Not quite

what the average person can afford. Moreover, most franchise companies take a

percentage of your sales— not just profits, SALES— as their royalty commission!


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It’s tough to start a franchise today, unlike when the industry was young and

unknown. As in real estate, the stock market or most other opportunities, those

who get in early make the real money.

However, higher risk means a higher reward. Once anything is a sure

thing, it seems everybody’s doing it.

Today franchises are proven profit centers. That’s one reason why they’re so

expensive. You pay for having less risk than a conventional business start-up—

and you pay for being a Johnny-come-lately, as well.

But there is a way to have the low-to-no-risk benefits of a proven, duplicable

business system like franchising, and still enjoy the rich rewards of a ground floor

opportunity.

Frankly, most Americans don’t have the extra $25,000 to $250,000 or more that

it usually takes to own their own franchise business. But almost every one of us

can afford to have the next best thing. And that’s exactly what I’m telling you

about here: The NEXT... BEST... THING.... The People's Franchise...

... Network marketing.

Network marketing has taken the concept of franchising— providing

independent entrepreneurs with a ready-made, low-risk, proven,

turn-key small- business opportunity— and made some genuinely

remarkable improvements on it.

Low Capital Investment— Little or No Risk

How much money do you need to become an independent network marketer?

There is usually no fee required to start your networking business. You’ll typically

commit between a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars for your sales

kit, training and sales and marketing materials, and your initial product

inventory if you even need it.


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The Benefits and Tax Advantages of a Home-Based Business

For most participants, network marketing is a home-based business, so you don’t

have the high overhead of a retail or office location. The equipment you need to

begin your networking operation can be as simple as a telephone, desk and file

cabinet. And the potential tax advantages of owning and operating a legitimate

home-based business represent one of the last forms of tax relief available to the

average American today.

No Employees— You Are In Control

As a network marketer, you are an independent contractor – the CEO of your

own businesses. Think of it as "Me, Inc.". You have no “employees.” The men and

women with whom you’ll work are also CEOs, running their own independent

networking businesses. In network marketing, you don’t simply “own your own

job”— you own your own business.

And unlike most entrepreneurs, your business does not own you! You

are truly in control of your work— and your life.

More Choices— Part-Time, Full-Time, Travel, National and Global

Businesses

Every network marketer is a volunteer: You don’t “have to” do anything. You’re

free to work the days and hours you want, where you want, doing what you want

— and perhaps most important of all, you’re free to choose the people with whom

you work.

Although the majority of networkers (currently 85 percent) operate their

businesses part-time, more and more men and women are pursuing network

marketing as a full-time career. Some work exclusively from their homes; some

choose to set up formal offices; others enjoy traveling to other cities and even to

other countries, building their businesses on a global scale.

Personal and Professional Support


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In network marketing, you’re in business for yourself – but not by yourself. Your

network marketing corporation’s success depends on your success— they’re your

business partner, so they give you the support possible, each step of the way.

As a good franchise company would do, a good network marketing company

provides you with the product or service to market, plus an R & D department,

new product development, field training, sales and marketing literature and

promotional materials, a distributor service department, and more. And today

every network marketing company is Internet-friendly. You and your company

are truly partners in a win-win opportunity.

However, there’s another very special reason network marketing is the next step

beyond franchising. Which is why it’s sometimes called...

Franchising 2.0

When you buy a franchise, you acquire the right to market the product or service

provided by your company. It’s much the same in network marketing, except that

you don’t have to pay a franchise fee or the same huge startup and overhead

costs, have a retail location and/or elaborate equipment, hire and manage

employees or deal with geographic restrictions on your marketing territory. You

also don’t have to pay a percentage of your sales back to the network marketing

company. What’s more, you are an independent contractor – you work for you—

not for “the company.”

Furthermore, a network marketing company does one more truly revolutionary

thing for you.

They give you the ability to offer the opportunity to build a successful

business to others in partnership with you, too!

In direct selling, you not only get to earn income from marketing your company’s

products or services (like a franchisee); you can also earn income from the sales

generated by people you enroll into your own network organization (like a


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franchise company). They're your 'business partners', men and women who, just

like you, own their own independent network marketing businesses.

That’s why we call it Franchising 2.0.

And that’s what creates one of network marketing’s most powerful and profitable

features: it allows you to leverage your time, talent and energy to earn

commissions from the sales made by all the other people you bring into the

business.

Local Community Services

Local community services refers to things such as remodeling, handyman,

cleaning, landscape, painting, carrier, real estate, insurance, taxes, or any other

number of local services. All of these can be run from the comfort of your home.

Some cost more than others to start, depending on the equipment you need. One

thing to keep in mind is that most of these services are commodity priced rather

than value shopped, meaning that people are looking for the cheapest deal in

most cases. Besides cost for equipment and marketing you will need to do the

research to find out what the going rates are for the type of services you want to

offer. This will help you begin to see if this type of business is idea for you or not.

Commodity pricing can be very competitive and significantly narrow your profit

margins. If you decide to go into the local service business it would be wise to

think outside the box to generate multiple points of business from the client so

you can garner additional profits from certain jobs. To take it one step further, it

would be important to come up with value added services that none of your

competitors would be likely to offer.


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Buying a business

Buying an existing business is also a great option and you can sometimes find

some good deals. When you buy an existing business, you are ideally buying it for

the fact it is already generating revenue for the owner, meaning immediate cash

flow. You also can get into the business for low start-up costs, except for a loan or

large payment to purchase. Many existing businesses also come with existing

inventory as well.

Businesses are bought for various reasons besides the ultimate goal of owning

one. For instance some businesses you buy for the customer list and some for

equipment while others are for the brand name.

For some entrepreneurs, buying an existing business incurs less of a risk than

starting a new business from scratch. However, you must perform due diligence

to ensure that you are fully aware of the terms of the purchase.

If you decide to buy an existing business, you will want to be sure you are making

an educated decision. The following steps can guide you in the process.

Doing Due Diligence

There are also some downsides to buying an existing business. Purchasing cost

may be much higher than the cost of starting a new business because of the initial

business concept, customer base, brand and other fundamental work that has

already been done. Also, be aware of hidden problems associated with the

business like debts the business is owed that you may not be able to collect.

This also means researching to see if any licenses are required that you have not

been made aware of or zoning requirements.


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Determining the Value of a Business

There are a number of different methods to determine a fair and equitable price

for the sale of the business.

Here are a few:

Capitalized Approach:

This method refers to the return on the investment that is expected by an

investor.

Excess Method:

Similar to the capitalized earning method, except that it separates return

on assets from other earnings.

Cash Flow Method:

This method is typically used when attempting to determine how much of

a loan the cash flow of the business will support. The adjusted cash flow is

used as a benchmark to measure the firm's ability to service debt.

Balance Sheet Method:

This method values the business by the tangible assets.

Value of Intangible Assets Method:

This method compares buying a wanted intangible asset versus creating it.

Some intangible assets may be considered the name.


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Here are the next steps to purchase once initial due diligence is

complete.

Letter of Intent:

The letter of intent officially notifies the business owner of your interest.

This also lets them know you are serious and should spell out the proposed

price, the terms of the purchase and the conditions for the sale of the

business. If you don’t have all of that their then you can demonstrate in the

letter your intentions to set the price, terms, and condition of sale after

due diligence.

I always like to get as much information as possible before ever giving a

ballpark number, then come back with a number and generally back down

from that number once all due diligence is complete, using any areas of

concern to negotiate a better price.

When I invest in real estate I always buy at discount prices by raising the

areas of concern to get the property into fair market condition and what it

will cost to do so.

This is a similar strategy in that you don’t necessarily want to pay retail for

an existing business.

Confidentiality Agreement:

A confidentiality agreement indicates that you will not use the information

about the seller's business for any purpose other than making the decision

to buy it.

Contracts and Leases:


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If the business has a current lease for the location, be aware that you may

have to work with the landlord to assume any existing lease on the

business premises or negotiate a new lease.

This doesn’t mean you have to work from the offices, you can still work

from home and have others run the business.

Financial Statements:

Examine the financial statements from the business for at least the past

three to five years.

Tax Returns:

Review the business's tax returns from the past three to five years. The key

is looking at profits, liabilities, and cost of goods sold.

Sales Agreement:

This agreement defines everything that you intend to purchase, including

business assets, customer lists, intellectual property and goodwill. If you

do not have a lawyer to help you draft the terms of the sale, you should at

least have one review the agreement before you sign it.

Often times in the process I find areas we can improve the bottom line in

liabilities and cost of goods along with new marketing channels never considered.

We will talk more about marketing channels later in the book.


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Business Equity Positions

Similar to buying a business however in this method we like to acquire equity

positions in companies without bringing money to the table. Rather we like to

bring our unique skill sets to the table that can often times double if not triple the

company’s sales.

If you have a particular skill set in negotiating better pricing, money

management, marketing, or sales you may be able to negotiate a piece of a

business.

I discovered this throughout the years owning our marketing firm; we had some

clients who wanted to pay solely on performance. Though we knew we could

deliver, I believed being paid on performance for doubling or tripling their

business wasn’t ideal. After realizing the results I was producing, I began

negotiating ownership in businesses and collecting discounted consulting fees on

the front.

By now I am sure you are thinking, why in the world would a business owner be

willing to do that? Because they grow their bottom line, and it’s business they

would have never had. They might have less of the profits, but look at it like this.

Would you rather have 100% of nothing or 40% tripling your past years sales?

When acquiring these positions, you can stay on as a silent partner and

consultant or even have the original owner stay and run the business. The other

option is having the owner stay on for a set period of time for transition. We like

to see the owner stay on, this motivates them to see the transition successful as

we like to attach a payment schedule to those specific terms.


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This is one of the fastest ways to begin to create multiple streams of income in my

opinion and I am surprised that more are not doing it. At the end of the day it is a

win-win for both parties.

Consulting

A consultant is simply someone who has expertise in an area and can help

improve a business with that knowledge. Consulting is really wide open in its

interpretation. Nothing more and nothing less.

So just how big is the consulting world? Right now companies spend tens of

billions of dollars each year contracting with consultants.

Now consulting is great because it allows you to work from home and through

technology you can do most of your consulting from the comfort of your office.

Here are some things to consider with being a consultant.

• What certifications and special licensing will I need?

• Are you qualified? The answer is usually yes.

Here are examples of consulting businesses you could start.

1. Accounting and Audit Review

2. Advertising and Marketing

3. Business Coach

4. Career counseling

5. Communications

6. Computer consulting

7. Publishing

8. Executive search


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One thing to keep in mind in consulting is you always want to sell value

proposition and more importantly the value of your expertise. I would

recommend you stay away from commodity priced consulting.

The key to being a high paid consultant is producing happy clients and getting

case studies or recommendation letters from them. I currently have hundreds of

recommendations from my clients, and just to make it easy for them you can

write one up and have them sign it. Satisfied clients often love to give you a

recommendation letter. They just simply don’t have the time, so create a general

recommendation letter that your clients can sign. The more tailored to the client,

the better. Use can also use LinkedIn to secure the recommendations from your

clients. This adds more credibility when the client is doing their due diligence on

you to verify you can do what you say.

V: Practical Setup Tips

Here is my list of practical setup tips for working from home:

Internet

Now this one sounds pretty simple, yet when I first started working from home I

quickly found out the “speed” was way too slow. If you are doing video

conferencing, voice over the Internet, webinars, uploading large files, or playing

videos, you want to make sure your Internet provider can supply the bandwidth

you need. This is one area not to cut corners on or it can impact your

productivity.


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The minimum download speed should be 6 Mbps up to 15 Mbps. You can get

speeds faster and if you are trading markets from home.

Office Location

Setting up your office location in the home really doesn’t have to be that difficult.

When I was first starting out, I for some reason thought I had to match my pre-

conditioned ideas of an office. That idea was based on western economics.

I want to encourage you to look at a home office differently. Here are some things

to think about.

• You don’t have to dedicate a separate room in the home. It could be

located in your main bedroom or basement.

• The office can be mobile with both a desktop computer and laptop.

• It comes down to productivity, not what you think you need. What will

make you productive and is absolutely necessary to get started.

Computer

When thinking about computers, keep in mind a few things:

• Hard drive space and processing speed are important to your productivity,

so having the right system goes a long way. I personally started with 1 TB,

terra bite and processing speed should be top tier. As soon as I write this

that speed will change.

• I personally have a desktop with multiple monitors and a laptop to do my

work. The laptop allows me to work anywhere in the home and be in the

kitchen or living room with the family when I am not working on

something pressing.

• Should it be PC or MAC? Well I prefer MAC as they run faster, are less

prone to viruses, and more durable.

• Computer accessories that you should look at are microphone,

headphones, web cam, and printer.


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o Microphone is important for webinars, conference calls, and

recordings.

o Headphones can be used when there is feedback on calls or

webinars in addition to watching or listening to media.

o Webcams will be used for conference calls, webinars, and

recordings you may want to do.

o Printer will be helpful so you don’t have to go to an office store to

print simple documents.

Desk and Chair

Depending on the space in your home, choosing a desk is relative. Remember you

don’t need a big desk just to have a big desk. Think about what will help you be

efficient and accommodate your home and family.

Make your family part of the effort and decision process. Use the opportunity to

teach, not to argue. Share why a particular direction would be a good idea.

Now some basic points on a desk and chair:

• The chair needs to be adjustable, as this will help you change things up

and keep a fresh perspective while working. Sitting in the same position all

the time will begin to take its toll on you.

• The desk should be durable, but light. This will allow for you to move it as

your family environment may change.

When working from home, it’s important that you set some ground rules for

engagement with the family when you are working. What I wouldn’t do is set

strict policies on every item, but rather let them know the importance of the

business. When they step over those lines take the opportunity to “teach” them


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why and how that affects the business. Your relationships will deepen and your

family will be glad you are working from home.

The point is to make your family feel involved, cared for, and loved. If they

perceive your business is more important than them then you might as well be

working for an employer. If you setup an office with a lock on the door, remember

you are working from home to be with your family - not to keep them “locked

out” of your life for 8 hours in a day.

VI: Is My Ideal Good Enough?

Do you have an idea for a business? Whether you are coming up with a new idea

for business or one that has already been in use, we will explore the basis to

validate if a business idea is a good enough to take to the next step in starting.

You don’t need a new idea.

There are already many proven business models you can do from home and

getting started today working from home is much easier than twenty years ago.

Initial Idea Analysis

For the next few minutes we are going to look at two areas that can help validate

your business idea: demographics and market reach or accessibility.

Initial Idea Analysis: Demographics


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Demographics help us identify our ideal target market, customer. Understanding

who is it you are marketing too, basically who will buy your product or service?

Demographics may include some of the following:

• Age

• Sex

• Industry

• Education level

• Income level

• Ethnicity

• Race

• Precise interest (I believe this one to be very important for my businesses)

Is there a demographic for your idea? If you can’t seem to identify demographics

for your idea then you may have the wrong idea. With that being said, I believe as

I highlighted above that identifying precise interest you can learn of the

demographic is available to market your business too.

Precise interest can be any, but not limited to the following:

• Music

• Non Profits

• Causes

• Celebrity

• Sporting

• Stores

• Seasons

• Holidays

• Geographic areas

• Outdoor activities

• And many more…


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From my point of view precise interest has been the missing piece to 99.9% of

most business owners marketing arsenal.

Initial Idea Analysis: Market Reach

Market reach becomes very important after you have identified the

demographics. Initial demographics help you identify market reach.

The way I like to determine market reach is to do both online and offline research

using the demographics as my filters. Through research my reach at the local

library for a local business I can determine if the market is viable in an area.

Basically are they reachable via offline and online market efforts.

Online I like to take my demographics and search using google’s free keyword

tool. Here I can add my keywords and location to see if people are interested in

my idea or not. Better yet I can see suggestions around the keywords I enter.

I also like to use google’s advanced search option that allows me to search within

specific websites, especially social communities and forums to see if my target

market resides there and by how many. By knowing basic statistics of the social

platform being searched, I can then come up with a valid number that is

reachable using precise interest as a key filter.

While this may sound a bit advanced it really isn’t once you get into it. You can

learn this by simply spending a little bit of time doing both. You will quickly pick

them up if you put your mind to it. You can also search Youtube for how to videos

on using both Google’s free keyword tool and the advanced search tool.


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As you go through the process you will begin to see various other opportunities to

research and verify your reach and demographic. What I have attempted to do is

demonstrate some ways to do it for no cost.

Big research firms would like to charge you thousands of dollars to achieve the

same data I am telling you can get on your own putting a little bit of time into it.

VII: How Do I Develop a Plan? Getting started with a plan, you might call it a business plan. It precisely defines

your business, identifies your goals and serves as your strategy moving forward.

The components of the plan are listed in this chapter. Business plans help you

allocate resources properly, handle unforeseen complications, and make the right

decisions moving forward.

Plans are also very important if you need financing or investors as well. Both

investors and lenders will want to see a well laid out business plan. One I always

recommend when it comes to securing financing or investors is a company called

Master Plans.

Here are the key components to a business plan:

Summary

The summary is a snapshot of the business plan and is considered very important

as it gives a profile of the business, its goals, and overall projection. While it is the

first section of the plan, it is the last part completed, and should include:


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• Your experience. Even though this is a home business you should still

include your experience if nothing but for being a reminder of your talent

and skill.

• Mission statement, why your business exists. I would encourage reading

the book by Simon Sinek “Why”.

• Review of the need in the marketplace and the gap you plan to fill.

• Briefly describe the product or service you plan to offer.

• Briefly demonstrate accessibility of the target market.

• Potential growth highlights and future plans.

Company Information

Here you describe the nature of the business, location, and need you are going to

meet.

Some things to include:

• Describe the basis of your business and list the needs that you are trying to

satisfy.

• Explain how your products and services meet these needs.

• List the specific consumers, organizations or businesses that your

company serves or will serve.

• Explain the competitive advantages that you believe will make your

business a success, such as your location, experience, operations, or other

added value points.

Market Analysis

This section should illustrate your industry and market knowledge as well as your

research findings. Be sure to include the following:


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• Industry Description and Forecast, describe the industry, including

its current size and historic growth rate as well as other trends and

characteristics

• Information About the Target Market such as:

o Distinguishing characteristics – needs, interest, concerns, and

groups they belong too.

o Size of the target market.

o Forecast of this markets growth.

• What potential market share can you capture? It is important that

you don’t just throw out a number up; back it with data. This will be better

demonstrated when you identify the strength of the marketing channels

you will use.

• Pricing and gross margin targets, layout your pricing strategy and

margins that are built in for profit. At this point I can’t stress how

important it is to sell from a point of value rather than commodity based.

Even if you market a tangible product, adding value to the offer can allow

you to price differently and capture market share.

• Focus group and market test, I always bounce my ideas off others for

group feedback, and often test market ideas as well on target markets

using lead magnets to gauge interest. This is a great place to provide that

data.

• Competitive analysis, identify your competition by product line or

service and market segment and access strengths and weaknesses. Reverse

engineer what they are doing and see if you can duplicate successful

strategies.

• Window of opportunity, identify the expected length of this business

opportunity.

Organizational Structure


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A simple layout of the management and owners, as well as their roles and

expectations, should be listed. While we are talking about working from home,

you may acquire businesses and having a plan is so vital to keeping you on track.

Marketing Plan

I like to really break this section down. This is ultimately what will drive business,

so I believe it can be the most important.

Assumptions, I like to start with listing our assumptions of our target market.

This would include the demographics we have on them and our potential reach or

accessibility.

Competitors, be sure to list your top competitors in the market, so you know to

stay up on what they are doing.

Here are some tips in regards to competitors:

1. Sign up for Google alerts and be alerted anytime they do anything online.

This will keep you informed of their activity, strategies, and what they

might be doing well.

2. Be sure to reverse engineer what they are doing with marketing and see if

you can build upon that.

Channels

In this section, you want to list the various marketing methods or channels you

plan to use. Be sure to list why and the data behind each channel that validates

using it.

Here is a short list of marketing channels to consider for your business along with

some tips on each. Just remember, you can use one, several or all these channels


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based on what you find out on your reach to access them through various

channels.

• Referral Marketing

You can use referral marketing when customers, friends, and business

associates refer business to you and often times you compensate them in

some way. Identify those customers, friends, and businesses you could

target for referrals and list the potential.

• Networking

Along the lines of referral marketing attending networking meetings,

business meetings, trainings, events, and seminars that you can network

your business. You can probably make a list of potential events that your

target market may reside or businesses and people who have that target

market in their database.

• Direct Mail

At the end of the day, people still love to get mail and if you can be creative

in your mailing, you can bolster response rates.

The key is using data list that can get in front of your target market, and

today, many of the list brokers are also direct mail fulfillment houses.

If you are using direct mail, consider the strategy and process to convert

the prospects. I like to go through a process of exposure by getting

attention (direct mail piece), then capturing the lead (getting them to give

me their info), bonding with them (with case studies, testimonials, proof),

and then asking for the sale.

• Other Print and Conventional Marketing

This includes:


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o Newspaper advertisement

o Phone book advertisement

o Radio advertisement

o TV advertisement

o Event sponsoring

o Tradeshow exhibiting

• PPC

Pay Per Click can be a very effective strategy of spending money on

keywords with Google or other search and social platforms to drive

targeted website visitors. For a long time I didn’t like to do this until I was

able to access the next channel below.

• Retargeting

The practice of placing ads in front of previous website visitors on other

sites after they have visited yours. This is very effective in increasing

conversions after the initial visit if they don’t convert the first time. You

can literally follow them around online and place ads in front of your

visitors until they convert.

• Email

Using email marketing, you can get your message directly in front of your

target market. If you choose to have a website you can capture leads and

email them or you can do solo ads.

Solo Ads is the practice of paying email list owners in your niche to send

an email for your offer on your behalf. I like to have them email them to a

specific give away to capture their information first. I also like my emails


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to be solo, meaning nothing else is promoted in the email accept my offer

exclusively.

Doing a simple Internet search for solo ads with your niche keyword

should generate some results of providers.

• Articles/ Blogging

This is also called content marketing and goes with authority-type

websites. The key here is capturing prospects’ information. (I also want to

stress that an authority website doesn’t necessarily need to be the same

website you sell from.)

Content can be information, news, tips, articles, reports, and videos. The

key is to be consistent with providing this information and getting it to

your target market through some of the other aforementioned marketing

channels.

Prospects will be much more likely to view your content and messages

about your content than a product offer. In fact, we have found in some

cases that the engagement rate is three to four times greater. This can

work well in combination with some other marketing strategies.

• SEO

This channel is the method of making sure your website and content on

the website is “keyword”-optimized naturally to the search engines. This

means making sure you are search engine optimizing your pages, post,

content, and pictures with your target market keywords.


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This is why authority marketing is so powerful.

Many people try to crack the SEO code and see if they can find loopholes

to move higher in the search engine results. However, I wouldn’t do this as

eventually the loophole methods get closed and the search engines

penalize websites using those methods, thus becoming a

counterproductive strategy. Your safest option is to stay within the

guidelines of the search engines.

• Social Media

Social media is an incredible channel and involves additional sub channels

as you consider which social platforms your target might preside and how

reachable they are.

Each of the social platforms has search options and most have

advertisement options. Better yet, many have communities you can build

and message at no cost. These communities are very similar to text and

email communication options when you own the communities.

I like to leverage the social platforms community building, subscribers,

followers, and fan options. The key is when the social platforms roll out

with new features and options is to think about how you can build

engagement. Then, after engagement, think about how you can get your

message in front of them.

Lastly I will say that social media is about engagement, then conversion.

The key to engagement is to give people a voice around common beliefs,

feelings, and emotions. Note I am not necessarily saying that is your

product or service, by providing the vehicle for your target market to voice


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on topics you have secured a lead source. These communities don’t even

need to be directly related to your product, but at least indirectly.

For example, we have communities around wealth and finance that we use

to drive to our offers on trading programs and wealth programs. However,

these products or services are never mentioned on the front end.

The same goes for other platforms like facebook. We have communities

dedicated to patriotism and guns. These communities point our prospects

back to our long-term food business and ammo business.

• Joint Ventures

This channel uses the concept of leveraging a broker who works to arrange

a mutual win/ win with other product or list owners who may benefit from

your offer or list. The broker doesn’t get paid unless business is generated

from the introduction. So leveraging a Joint Venture Broker may be ideal

for you. A simple search online and you may be able to find a broker for

your business.

My companies have worked with Joint Venture Brokers extensively and we

have trained hundreds of brokers.

Joint venture brokers can get paid anywhere from 5% to 40% of the profits

on deals they generate for you. When you look at various marketing

channels, this is one often overlooked. There are brokers who specialize in

both online and offline business.

• Alliances


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This is similar to Joint Ventures, but in this role you may work with a

similar product or service provider whose customer or prospect would be

ideal for your service.

In an alliance relationship, you both agree to refer business to each other

and often times do marketing campaigns together.

• Local Groups

Local groups would be things like your local business chapter, BNI,

chamber of commerce, meetups, and local events.

The key to local groups is to remember the idea of givers gain. Meaning by

giving at the local meeting level you can usually gain long-term support for

your business referrals.

Branding Strategy

Branding is vital to your business and developing that in your business plan is

just as important.

Once you decide on a business, it is important to secure the brand name,

domains, and social accounts. It is also important that you research the brand

name, domains, and social profiles to see if the name is taken already before you

finalize the concept. If it is taken then you don’t want to end up with a .biz or

modified social account name.

Taking a modified name online or not being able to secure a .com will affect your


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business. If you are so in love with the name that you do it anyway, just realize

people will judge your entire business by that.

You can get basic concepts and designs done through various websites online.

Just search for graphic design service and you can get something turned usually

for a few hundred dollars.

Deadlines/ Goals

This section of your plan should lay out what your goals are over 6 to 36

months along with deadlines to complete various task to get the business

up and running.

You should be considering deadlines such as:

• How long you will take to get your office setup.

• Timeline for finishing your business plan.

• Timeline to complete marketing materials such as website,

business cards, flyers, and ad placement.

• Timeline to before you start promoting your business.

Some goals you should consider to establish are:

• Number of sales calls.

• Number of prospects you will expose to your business.

• Monthly sales goals.

• Monthly marketing actions such as content creation, post, and

touches.

I like to set mini goals in my personal and professional life. Mini goals may be

something as simple as achieving a few things in a day that allow for a win. By


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creating little wins throughout the day and week, you can then achieve bigger

goals. More importantly mini goals compound over time allowing you to apply a

slight edge principle that results in big results over time.

The slight edge principle works both ways in positive and negative ways. By doing

something over a long period of time the results will begin to show up.

Budget and Projections

A forecast can be generated after you have done market research including typical

conversions based on various marketing channels you select to use and setting

realistic goals.

Forecast

When you develop a forecast, it is best to show projections for 6 months, 12

months, 24 months, and 36 months out. This will allow you to measure your

activity and see how you are doing.

It is important that the forecast relies on data that demonstrates typical

conversions for your market. This would mean for example if you send out a

converting direct mail piece, the typical response rate is X and the typical

conversion to sales is X.

Using historical data on various strategies and industries can help you project the

future results.

Budget

With a forecast comes a budget detailing your expenses. It is important not to put

expense projections on the sheet just to add things. Be realistic about what you


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need.

Here is a short list for what should be included on the budget.

• Marketing Cost

When considering marketing cost, it is important to have decided on

marketing strategies that generate an ROI, Return on Investment. This

means deciding on measurable strategies you can track.

• Office Needs

Office needs should be minimal.

• Travel cost

Travel cost may be needed if your marketing channels selected would

produce the results you need.

• Internet Related

Internet costs would include website hosting, domain, email, and other

Internet tools you may need.

• Health Care

You should account for any needed medical expenses. Research alternative

health care options available in the market. There are several options

available.


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• Salary/ Draw

You need to determine the amount of money you need to live off of until

you get your business up and running. Remember how much money you

will save not working for an employer.

VIII: What About Funding? Now the great thing about starting a home business is the fact you can start many

home businesses with very little funding. If you are short on funds then you

should look at various options I have listed in the book whose costs are minimal.

Things like buying a business with money up front may not be ideal for you if you

don’t have the ability to still make ends meet as you get started. But the great

thing is you can start with a low cost startup and then move into other businesses

that require significant funding up front later.

When starting a business many lenders want to extend you credit for things such

as computer purchases, equipment purchases, and even vehicle purchases.

Additionally many credit card companies have business credit cards for startups

that allow you to build business credit and credit lines for the business.

If you know you are going to need funding beyond your means and your business

idea is really solid then it comes down to other sources. You can begin the process

of other sources I am listing below if you have a solid business plan. Without a

solid business plan you will probably not get the time of day or lose their interest

the moment you show a poorly laid out plan. What is a poorly laid out plan, well

without you being in business for a long time it could be just one minor error.

That one minor error could lose you the funding deal.


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If you seek outside funding, I would recommend you put together the initial plan,

then approach Master Plans to put the business plan in the possible position.

They will probably re-due the whole thing that is exactly what you want. However

if you don’t do one first you will not be able to answer their questions or

understand how they are trying to put you in a better position to secure funding.

So here are your outside funding options:

Venture Capital

Venture capital comes from investors who have money they are looking to place

into startups. They typically want a piece of the company; some want to keep a

piece of the company and have a payment schedule when the company starts

turning a profit. Others want a piece of the company and a payout schedule, and

once the payout schedule is complete they sell their position of the company and

you can buy it back.

The venture capitalist basically owns equity in the company and is willing to take

the risk with you if they believe in you, your business plan, and the niche. Some

investors focus specifically in particular niches so finding them is usually not too

difficult.

Today you can use websites like Fundable.com to raise money as well. Going

online to search you can find many sources. Just remember to get a quality

business plan together before you do anything else.

Loan

Typically, loans can come from banks or private lenders and in this case they

usually require collateral, meaning they want to put a lien on some portion of

assets that you have in order to secure the loan. Additionally they will begin to

require payments likely before you are generating profits.


53

In this case, if the business doesn’t succeed and you can’t continue to pay for the

loan, they will take the asset you put up as collateral.

Partner

With a partner you invite one or more people to join with you and with this come

many aspects to look at. Partners can bring money to the table, be involved day to

day, have an officer position in the business, and have a percentage ownership.

Some things to think about with partners:

• Do they have the same beliefs as me?

• Do they have good work ethic?

• Do they understand the reward and risk involved?

• How will we resolve conflict?

• Who will be ultimately in charge?

• Sign an official agreement to terms and roles in the partnership.

I personally don’t go down the path of partnerships, as I like to work from home,

and be free to make decisions based on my beliefs and convictions. Partnerships

make things a bit complicated.

IX: Do I Need A Lawyer, Accountant, or Consultant? So do you need a lawyer, accountant, or consultant? Probably. I like to have my

documents and agreements reviewed, ask tax questions, and even talk to business

coaches.


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X: The Future-‐ What Does it Look Like?

During this book I have shared my personal beliefs, tips, and ideas along with

practical considerations for working from home. In this final chapter before I

share the resources I like to use, I would like to share some closing thoughts to

help you along the way.

So what if you fail?

Have you thought about it and wondered how you would handle it? I am here to

tell you I have failed many times, just like other great men and women in the

past. The question is, will you rise above failure, realize it is part of the experience

and press on to new heights of success?

Such times are opportunities to learn from my experience and decisions. It is a

tremendous opportunity for growth.

Here is one thing about failure that I have never allowed to creep in my mind. I

don’t ever say I am not cut out to work from home. That is simply a lie from the

system that has trained you to be dependent on big government and others rather

than on your own efforts in combination with your faith.

The lie of not being cut out to work from home steals your dreams, freedom, and

the idea of spending more time with the ones you love most.

Sharpen the Axe

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” -‐ Abraham Lincoln


55

I am a firm believer in personal development, trainings, books, seminars, and

events. Each week I set time aside to sharpen my knowledge, to learn, to expand,

and get an edge in the marketplace.

With sharpening the axe comes the key ingredient of taking time to sharpen

yourself physically, spiritually, and emotionally as well. I have found the more

time I spend making myself better (not in a selfish way) so those I care about can

experience the best me, my life and business is enriched. My mind is clearer, my

decisions are better, and my energy is performing at peak levels.

The magic of part time

You may be facing a scenario that you need to transition into working from home.

Therein comes the magic of part time: by working part time on your business you

can work full time on your income. Who says you need to quit your job

completely unless you have the resources to do it and have a solid business plan

in place?

You can start today working towards your goal of working from home.

Family Economics

Today you and I have an opportunity – an opportunity to fundamentally shift the

way economics and families are approaching life. I truly believe the system today

is bankrupt not just financially, but morally and relationally. When you look at

the system of education and the current economic engine. They breed rebellion,

dissatisfaction with life, unhealthy desires, false ideas, and gray areas of ethics.

You say, is that the education system or the economic engine? It’s both.

We can change that. We can build home businesses that breed respect,

happiness, healthy desires, level heads, sound minds, and people of character.


56

I believe working from home is a great benefit and challenge. The benefits we

have outlined and the challenge is for us to rise to the occasion and fight for our

freedoms, our families, and our future.

It is time to Work from Home.

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